Capello: Tough Terry call

Fabio Capello has admitted it was a tough call to retain John Terry as international captain due to the quality of the other candidates in his England squad.

Terry, 27, was named as Capello's permanent skipper ahead of the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard in the build up to Wednesday's friendly against Czech Republic at Wembley.

Manchester United defender Ferdinand had been the frontrunner for the armband as Terry was the choice of former manager Steve McClaren, who was axed after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

But after rotating the armband between Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard and David Beckham for his first four matches, Capello has given the Chelsea skipper the nod ahead of the start of the new qualifying campaign for the next World Cup.

"I remembered that when John and Rio were captain they played very well," said the Italian.

"It was not easy for me to choose the captain, they are very good players.

"I think his big personality is the reason I have chosen John, but also Rio is very important for the team in his position as vice-captain.

"I think the captain is very important because he is the driver of the team."

Meanwhile, Capello has challenged his players to bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2008 when the World Cup qualifiers begin next month.

"For the national team it is a very important season," he continued.

"We have decided the captain, we have decided on a lot of the players in the squad and now we have to play every game like a final."